Various Artists "Play" (DeSoto) Sounds Like: Songs your mom would have played for you if she was on LSD instead of Valium and dated Shel Silverstein. Grade: A
"Play" is one of many twisted children's music albums to be released in the past year - twisted in that the intended audience is not necessarily children of a certain age but still children, even the ones at heart. Essentially, it is a concept album with simpler, less pretentious aims. The trend has even gained recognition in the unlikely pages of "Esquire" with good reason: It's kid-friendly music covered by bands that adults and college students enjoy.
The first track, "Born to Shake" by Anna Oxygen, immediately vies for attention. It's more electronic pop than "twinkle, twinkle little star." Next is "Always Check for Holes" from Channels with Damon Locks. It is a stark contrast to its predecessor, more zany and ridiculous in subject matter as well as in composition and sampling. That's what's great about this album-it's unpretentious and utterly ridiculous without losing sonic appeal, and no two songs sound alike.
The album boasts a smorgasbord of well- and little-known acts, ranging from Mudhoney's "I Like to Make Noise and Break Things," a hard rock ode to kid-friendly cacophony, to Mock Orange's "Holiday Dinner Song," a shopping list of a delicious and nutritious mealtime medley that The Flaming Lips must wish they wrote. The Supersuckers cover the John Waters favorite "Rubber Biscuit," a highlight of the album. Two D.C. acts also make it into the line up: Dischord's Soccer Team vows "I'll Never Fear Ghosts Again," while Georgie James shakes more than a tambourine with "The Grizzly Jive."
Surprisingly, the concept of the album seems to work. Perhaps it is drudgery-induced delirium or perhaps the juvenile compositions are truly great, but DeSoto's claim rings true. "Play" really is "cool music for cool kids." The album only warrants one complaint: Where was this music 13 years ago?
-HILARY CROWE
The Feeling "Twelve Stops and Home" (Cherry Tree/Interscope) Sounds like: Something that would be playing in the background throughout a Mandy Moore love odyssey. Grade: D-
This year has been an exceptional one for music thus far, with "Neon Bible" by The Arcade Fire, "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer" by Of Montreal and "Vietnam" by Vietnam. Then there's "Twelve Stops and Home" by The Feeling, which is undoubtedly the worst album of the decade.
Sometimes it is truly refreshing to hear just how appalling music can be. There are many words that could describe the torturous feelings one endures while listening to "Twelve Stops and Home," yet the most appropriate choice would have to be hilarious. The band's confidence is palpable here, yet it is simply too hard to take this British quintet seriously as it belt out its sappy lyrics. Laughing is a lot easier and this album wastes no time and gets right down to business with the opening track "Sewn," with lyrics that include, "Danny boy, don't be afraid to shake that ass and misbehave."
Although the vocal and musical work here is excruciating, the accidentally hilarious lyrics almost make the album worth listening to. Ballad after ballad, The Feeling never ceases to impress with its provocative songwriting, such as with their work on "Strange," their ode to oddballs, wallflowers and gym class failures. Sometimes The Feeling even gets sassy, such as with "Kettle's On," where lead singer Dan Gillespie Sells explains, "I've got a little something on my mind/To keep it to myself isn't really very kind/Pouring out my heart isn't usually my style/But you gave me an inch so I'm gonna take a mile."
"Twelve Stops and Home" stands a horrendous abyss of whiney romance angst, unadventurous musical excursions and clich? storytelling. In many ways, the album seems like the perfect soundtrack for a romantic comedy, with puppy-love tracks that seem tailor-fit for every step of the inevitable boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl and finally boy gets girl back process. If it were not for the truly astounding songwriting skills here, this album would have been a complete failure.
-DONNY T. SHELDON
Aesop Rock "All Day" (Nike) Sounds like: The soundtrack to your late-night munchies run to 7-Eleven. Grade: B
When the day Nike and Google team up and take over the world comes, intellectuals will be able to point to this new Aesop Rock record as the beginning of the end. The third entry in the Nike-commissioned "Original Run" series, featuring compositions by LCD Soundsystem and the Chemical Brothers, well-known indie rapper Aesop Rock (a.k.a. Ian Matthias Bavitz) was chosen to produce this 45-minute track. Having to adhere to certain beats-per-minute guidelines, "All Day" proves that Aesop Rock is incredibly gifted behind the boards, even if he doesn't rap as much as expected.
Aesop Rock has always been known more as a rapper than as a producer but he seems to have chosen this piece to challenge himself more as the latter. While it would be logical to think that he would produce something that sounded closer in aesthetic to the dark, robotic beats that his labelmates on Definitive Jux are known for, the track runs the gamut from more moody soundscapes to over-the-top grooves. Aesop claims to have wanted to evoke the feeling of running through different cities over the duration of the song and he comes very close to succeeding. At the very least, his diversity is admirable, mixing the organic with the inorganic and staying as far away from tedium, which is amazing for such a long piece.
While Aesop does pop up and rap every now and again, doing his usual dystopian future schtick, his presence becomes sorely missed after 10 minutes of only instrumentalism. In total, he drops only about 16 bars of verse over the course of the song, which is too small of a contribution for such an interesting rapper.
Maybe it is a sad day when Nike-commissioned, iTunes-exclusive 45-minute compositions have become musical events to actually look for, but frankly these mixes are becoming some of the most interesting work of each participating artists' careers. "All Day" is no exception, reaffirming belief in Aesop Rock, if only as a producer, and giving hope that his extended absence will eventually lead a stunner of a comeback album.
-DREW ROSENSWEIG
